The Dallas Mavericks spoil Rick Carlisle's homecoming thanks to a total team effort

Dallas, Texas — Rick Carlisle returned to Dallas Saturday night, and Luka Doncic took exception to his old coach's homecoming tour. At least, he played as though he did. He started the game flying around the court and scoring at will. He tallied 30 points, and his aggressiveness set the tone, leading to the 132-105 […]

Ian Kayanja

Jan 29, 2022 11:25 PM EST

Dallas, Texas — Rick Carlisle returned to Dallas Saturday night, and Luka Doncic took exception to his old coach's homecoming tour.

At least, he played as though he did. He started the game flying around the court and scoring at will. He tallied 30 points, and his aggressiveness set the tone, leading to the 132-105 Dallas Mavericks win over the Indiana Pacers at American Airlines Center.

"I was with him my first three years and learned a lot from him," Doncic said of Carlisle with a smile. "Now, I am just trying to play my game."

Doncic could do no wrong. He had it going from inside and outside — from deep and around the basket. He arguably played one of his most complete games of the season. But he was not alone in his efforts.

A team effort

Dallas' (29-21) win Saturday night was a full-team affair. Six players scored in double-figures. And Reggie Bullock, who's struggled to find his footing this year, had the best scoring game of this season, scoring 23 points. His previous high was 16 points on Dec. 31, 2021, against the Sacramento Kings.

"It's about continuing to shoot the ball," Bullock said on how he remains confident. "My teammates believe in me. Continuing to stay aggressive, continuing to believe that I'm one of the best shooters in the league and continuing to take those shots."

It's no surprise that Bullock is stepping up after Tim Hardaway jr. went down with a broken fifth metatarsal in his foot. One aspect of Bullock's game not present in Hardaway's is his defensive versatility.

And in the extended playing time, Bullock expects to receive in Hardaway's absence, that versatility is what Kidd sees as a net-plus for Dallas.

"He's playing at a high level on both sides, defensively and offensively," Kidd said.

Though Kidd praised his defense, Bullock sees it as just doing what he can to help the team. Upholding a promise he, and others on the team, made regarding defending at a high level during training camp.

"At the beginning of the year, that was one of our main goals: to be able to be one of the top defensive teams in the league," Bullock said. "We just try to do that. Later here in the season, it's been one of our goals to try to go into the game with our defense and try to come out and disrupt things and just try to get out on the break and play fast."

Three-point turnaround

Dallas, a typically suspect three-point shooting team, has turned things around of late.

Saturday night, Dallas shot 47 percent from three, and against Portland on Wednesday, the team shot 44. Those numbers are a stark transition from the usually pedestrian 32.9 percent.

One player that has typified the three-point turnaround is Maxi Kleber. In the last 10 games, Kleber is shooting 41 percent from three. Compare that to his 36 percent from the season, and it's evident that he is more comfortable. Though he says he isn't doing anything different, the shots are falling. Whatever Kleber may — or may not — be doing is evidently working.

"I am not doing anything different," Kleber said. "I try to stay away from shooting percentages. And I know what I have to do when I am out there, and that's just to keep shooting the ball."

Next up for Dallas

Saturday night was the first night of a back-to-back. Next, Dallas travels to Orlando to take on the Magic on Sunday.

It won't be as emotional as Saturday night was — Carlisle shed tears watching his tribute video. However, it is a chance to pick up another win over a team that is more than beatable.

For now, you can worry about all the numbers and emotions — Dallas is focused on the wins.

"There are ups and downs, but if we have a more consistent defense, we can give ourselves a chance to win every game," Kleber said.

"Even if we don’t shoot the ball like today, then that is what we have to continue to do. We are on a good run, and we have to keep improving. We didn’t have everyone together for a lot of the season because of COVID, but now we do, and we have to go from here and prove ourselves.”